I like Alan Smith. Always gave 100% and got some a few important goals and played great in the 7-1 mauling of Roma. Plus his performance against Chelsea where he sliced down 3 of their players single-handedly in the space of 5 seconds. I loved that.

I like Alan Smith. Always gave 100% and got some a few important goals and played great in the 7-1 mauling of Roma. Plus his performance against Chelsea where he sliced down 3 of their players single-handedly in the space of 5 seconds. I loved that.

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Don't you think that is an obligation for every player under contract? I know what you are saying, but I always felt that Smudger's work rate was mostly to compensate for his technical abilities, or lack thereof. He had his uses, but I never really endeared to him tbh.

Don't you think that is an obligation for every player under contract? I know what you are saying, but I always felt that Smudger's work rate was mostly to compensate for his technical abilities, or lack thereof. He had his uses, but I never really endeared to him tbh.

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He's the same as a Park or a Tevez, his work-rate is his strongest quality.

Never rated him and still dont, yet applauded his good performances in his first couple of months with us. As usual Smith was kicking around for a while but soon faded when the season went up. Overall an average footballer at best that went on a downward spiral...Still cannot figure out the reason on why Fergie went for him.

There are so much players much worse. For example Djemba*2, Kleberson which Djemba cost almost as much but was just really bad and Kleberson costs the same amount 7m ? and couldn't produce half of what Smith did for us.

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For Kleberson and Djemba, i give them the benefit of the doubt as they have decent careers prior to joining Manchester United, and probably couldn't adapt to playing for such a high profile club, as well as settling down. As for Smith, other than guts and determination, i've rarely seen a player that is so painfully out of depth playing for us, and i mean it. I know its not going to do down well with the caftards here, but he isnever good enough for us, be it striker or midfield.(don't even bring up his pathetic scoring record for Leeds) With regards to the game against Chelsea, one swallow does not make a summer. He far from dominated the midfield battle. All he did was to put in some crunching tackles and unsettled the opposition. The way everybody was going about him, i would have thought he had put in a "Iniesta or Essien".

I really liked Smith because he really let it all hang out when he played, it was how he broke his leg against Liverpool.
A week or two before he left us he checked into the hotel I was staying in, in Dubai. I really regret not telling him that I appreciated his performances, even if they were limited, for the club.

He was the kind of player we love, a workaholic. Sadly he didn't have the technique or pace to be a Wayne Rooney but he was a ray of light during a very poor time for the club, by our standards.

His two best performances will be remembered as his DM role against Chelsea where i think he hacked everyone at some point during the match. And the Roma game where he kept the entire Roma back four occupied.

He was doing a good job in the DM role before his leg break and scared the opposition with his tackling. But he was too limited a player to really offer us much more than that as after his leg break he seemed to forget how to finish.

Oh yeah and his goals against Norwich, and Arsenal in the Community Shield were stunners, sadly those moments were too far between. A workaholic but was never "United standard", whatever that means.

i like alan smith. Always gave 100% and got some a few important goals and played great in the 7-1 mauling of roma. Plus his performance against chelsea where he sliced down 3 of their players single-handedly in the space of 5 seconds. I loved that.

Whoah, before you lot get too engrossed in your assasination of Smith, lets look at things properly here.

When Fergie signed Smith, Rooney wasnt an option on the cards and no one expected him to suddenly move from Everton. Its common knowledge that United bought Rooney far earlier than they had anticipated. Had Fergie known at the time ( when he looked at Smith ) that Rooney was going to up sticks and want out, he would never in a million years have bought Smith.

United needed a striker, and the only premiership standard player available at that point was Smith, so naturally, United did what any club would do. They bought Smith.

All of a sudden Rooney appears on the scene and United have an option, do they go for a talent they've been looking at for a long time, or let him go to someone else.. Its a no brainer. They invested in Rooney, and that in effect fecked up whatever chance Smith had. After all, who are you going to play, a seventeen year old player costing £30 million, or a lad from Leeds who cost next to nowt in comparison, and whom many fans didnt really want anyhow.

Smith could have had a great career at United, and I have always felt that he, like others had to play second fiddle to Ruud and that fecked up his style of play. I believe he would have been a very effective player if he wasnt consistently played out of position, or put under pressure to supply Ruud with the serive he wanted.

I for one will never say a bad word about Smith. He put his heart and soul into United, and did anything and everything to try and fit in, and sadly it just didnt work..

All I will say is this. If we could get every player to give as much as he did, and be as committed to the cause, then we'd have a team that would conquer anyone..

No bio would be complete without a good mention of SAF's experiment with Smith in the midfield. It mighta worked if Smith hadn't been injured so often. He didn't have the time to settle in. His willingness to contribute - and it was quite an effort - might have exasperated his injury problems.

He favoured a United reserve game in 2005 so that he could gain more experience in midfield over an England friendly. It might even have been that 4-1 thrashing from Denmark, it was around that time.

I remember him for his goal against Norwich, lovely control and volley; the equaliser against Blackburn; his equaliser from the bench against Boro shortly after; his MOTM performance against Chelsea where he was everywhere and his involvement when ended Arsenal's undefeated run - most would have shot when they were played through but he squared for Rooney to tap in. His comeback and goal against Roma was also sweet.

I really liked Smudger, he just probably lacked the extra bit of class that was needed to really make it with us. But he tried his heart out and was popular with fans as a result.

Don't you think that is an obligation for every player under contract? I know what you are saying, but I always felt that Smudger's work rate was mostly to compensate for his technical abilities, or lack thereof. He had his uses, but I never really endeared to him tbh.

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Yes. But sadly it isn't the case.

V.Nistelrooy didn't always try as hard as 100%, for example.

An example of a player who's strongest/one of their stronges attributes is giving 100% to the cause and making the most of their ability (saying 'limited' or 'lack of' ability makes it sound like they're lucky to be a pro footballer, it isn't that, it's that others have stronger technical qualities) is Alan Smith.

Whereas Rooney always gives 100% but it is 3rd, 4th or 5th down the list of his greatest attributes.

The most hung over I've been was Brum home two new years day back. I didn't utter a word. Thakfully neither did anyone else and I didn't get a worse headache. Fergie slated us all in the press afterwards though! As a fellow piss head you'd think he'd have more sympathy really...

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I'd been in London for a NYE party the night before that one... trains were totally fecked getting back up to Mancs (about 6 hourse including bus replacements), and I missed the first half (and the goal) - had to do a lap of OT until I found a service door open and got in. Felt rough as feck, and saw a shit 40 minutes of football, with a near silent crowd.

One of the worst buys in recently memories. Such a limited player be it as a striker or midfielder. I was never impressed by him, though his workrate and determination tend to garner him quite a following over here.

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How is 7m for a fourth choice striker considered a bad buy?

Some posters on her act like the club spent a small fortune for someone that was expected to carry the club to dizzying heights. Odd thinking.

Thought he played quite well in midfield for Newcastle against West Brom the other day. Seems to have learned how to position himself better. Looked much better than Nolan at any rate. Hope he gets back to a good standard again.

Some posters on her act like the club spent a small fortune for someone that was expected to carry the club to dizzying heights. Odd thinking.

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That wasn't a huge fee but it wasn't the equivalent of 7m now. It was still a substantial sum. I mean Michael Owen went to Real Madrid for £8m around the same time I think. Although I can't remember the exact timings.

it's funny how when it comes Ronaldo threads, plenty of posters come through the thread with "who cares, he's not a United player anymore. I don't care." yet there's so much input in this Alan Smith thread....

it's funny how when it comes Ronaldo threads, plenty of posters come through the thread with "who cares, he's not a United player anymore. I don't care." yet there's so much input in this Alan Smith thread....

what's with the double standards everyone

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I asked for opinions regarding a wiki entry. Something I hope to have done within the next week.

Perhaps people read the call for opinions and thought they'd share theirs.

I also specifically said "during his time with United" to keep it on topic for this forum.

Whoah, before you lot get too engrossed in your assasination of Smith, lets look at things properly here.

When Fergie signed Smith, Rooney wasnt an option on the cards and no one expected him to suddenly move from Everton. Its common knowledge that United bought Rooney far earlier than they had anticipated. Had Fergie known at the time ( when he looked at Smith ) that Rooney was going to up sticks and want out, he would never in a million years have bought Smith.

United needed a striker, and the only premiership standard player available at that point was Smith, so naturally, United did what any club would do. They bought Smith.

All of a sudden Rooney appears on the scene and United have an option, do they go for a talent they've been looking at for a long time, or let him go to someone else.. Its a no brainer. They invested in Rooney, and that in effect fecked up whatever chance Smith had. After all, who are you going to play, a seventeen year old player costing £30 million, or a lad from Leeds who cost next to nowt in comparison, and whom many fans didnt really want anyhow.

Smith could have had a great career at United, and I have always felt that he, like others had to play second fiddle to Ruud and that fecked up his style of play. I believe he would have been a very effective player if he wasnt consistently played out of position, or put under pressure to supply Ruud with the serive he wanted.

I for one will never say a bad word about Smith. He put his heart and soul into United, and did anything and everything to try and fit in, and sadly it just didnt work..

All I will say is this. If we could get every player to give as much as he did, and be as committed to the cause, then we'd have a team that would conquer anyone..

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There is a whole lot of sense in what the man says up there.

People forget that Smith was a stop-gap striker signing, made prior to Euro 2004 (on the 26th of May - that's only 4 days after the FA Cup Final). Forlan was very much looking like leaving and considered a flop, and we needed a striker to fill a gap as insurance to Ole's continuing problems and to gambling that Ruud would be forever-fit.

The need for Smith can be illustrated just by reminding everyone of the events of the early season. Come July, Ole had to fly home from pre-season training to have surgery and didn't play a single game all year. Forlan got his move as well, which worked out fantastically for revitalising his career, but meant there was one less striker on our books. Bellion was fast. An exhausted Ruud van Nistelrooy did get injured with a "sportsman's hernia" not on the pitch, but over his honeymoon. Even though we did end up signing Wayne Rooney at the end of August, he too was injured and didn't play until the end of September.

As has been mentioned already, Smith's best time at United was when he was needed to carry the team prior to the arrival and emergence of Wayne Rooney, but especially when even Ruud was injured. His best moments, aside from bleeding to death on the pitch, do involve things like saving our arses against the likes of Norwich and Blackburn. Part of the problem is that these are not hugely glamorous occurrences and I think some of us would rather pretend that a club of our "stature" never be in such situations. But we were in a bit of a shaky patch for a little bit there, just because of a confluence of bad events. I still think that year's team was better than it gets credit for, but had no self belief partly because of the start it endured.

Rooney was planned as our signing for the next year. Smith was the fill-in until then. If he flourished, then all the better. Then Rooney's performances at the Euros happened, Newcastle United came in, and everything changed.

But people tend to forget that Smith was on the books prior to the Euros even starting (they started on 12 June, Smith was signed 26 May), and it was there that it became clear that Wayne Rooney was destined for immediate international superstardom.

As for my memories, well, one of the incidents that sums him up the most for me actually occurred before he even kicked a ball for us. That's the time he managed to lock himself out of the training ground while staying after hours while everyone else was off at the Euros, and there's poor Alan Smith working his arse off and then at the end of it stuck banging on the door having forgotten the security code.

It one of those strange prophetic moments that at the same time illustrated the extreme work ethic he has, his lack of guile, and the utter lucklessness of the next three years.

By the way, speaking of Smith, this turned up in the news after the Leeds/Newcastle game a couple of weeks ago regarding his transfer, and I thought it was interesting:

The new story so that he can regain his Leeds Legend status is that the only reason he went to us is because we were paying the lump sum up front and the board told him that he should go to MUFC no matter what he thought of them - for the sake of Leeds United. Every other club wanted to pay over time in installments (it was only 7m) and they begged Smith to put aside his hatred of United to join them and 'take one for the team' to try to keep Leeds out of administration.

So poor Alan Smith was sent at gunpoint to United. He only did it because he loves Leeds so much. He was a victim of the evil rich Manchester United.

I love the way Leeds current board always feels the need to distract their fans from current woeful performances by digging up Ridsdale and now finding a new way to have a go at money-bags United.

Of course, they also had the need for crowd control and such at the match with Smith back for the first time ever, but the story smacks of "ignore the fact we screw everything up, remember these guys!"

it's funny how when it comes Ronaldo threads, plenty of posters come through the thread with "who cares, he's not a United player anymore. I don't care." yet there's so much input in this Alan Smith thread....

what's with the double standards everyone

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Threads entitled "Ronaldo: do you know what colour of eye makeup he iz wearing 2nite 4 Reel so I can wear the same becuz I luv him dee bezt!" do not belong in the United forum anymore as that is just the current goings on of a former United player.

This is an historical thread about a player's time at United, in the United forum.

1) That he was NOT the next Roy Keane
2) when he broke his leg I felt sick (and have never hated Liverpool sum more)
3) 'For Smudge'
4) Crackerjack goal vs Roma
5) Good honest player who gave his all but was ultimately not United class